Breakdown firearm



l July l28, 193l. F. F. BURTON 1,815,313

B REAKDOWN FIREARM Filed Jan. 22, 1930 2 sheets-sheet Patented rJuly 28, 1931 UN-irse entre PA-raar orales rnAN'c BUnrON, or MOUNTcAaivrnncoNNncrCUr, AssreNoa l vnErnArINe ARMs COMPANY, or Naw HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION orv DELAWARE BREAK-DOWN FIREARNL Application filed. January 22, 1960; kSerial No. 422,558.v

.required considerable'care and skill and its replacement, in particular, has'often occasione'd minor injuries to the user of the arm, such, for instance, as those caused `by pinchinfr the hand between the upper face of the fore endfandthe under face of the barrel-unit,

due to the fact thatv it has been necessary to grasp andsqueezebothv the barrel-unit andthe fore end with both hands in order to accurately position the parts with respect to each other and to guide both 'ends of the fore end as the same is snapped into place.

The main object of this invention is to provide a fire-arm in which the replacement of the fore vend upon the barrel-unit when the latter [is demounted from the frame-unit, may be readily and conveniently accomplished with a minimum of eort and the f minimum likelihood of injury to the user.

A further object of this invention is to provide a fire-arm in which the removal as well as the replacement of the fore end is lfacilitated.

A still further object ofpthis invention is to provide means for securing the fore end shoe to the fore end proper, which will afford the utmost security and the minimum of mutilation to the fore'end.

With the above and vother objectsin view as will appear from the'followin'g, my inven-r tion consists ina fire-arm having certain details of construction and combination of parts as will be hereinafter described and'particula'rly recited inthe claims;

1n the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a brokenviewin side elevationof the barrel-unit and fore end of a break-down fire-arm embodying my invention;

Fig. Qis an under-side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view thereof-partly inside elevation and partly in central longitudinal section;l y A Fig. 4 isa transverse sectional view taken on the line 4:-4 of Fig. 3

Fig. 5 is a broken view partly in side eley vation and partly in longitudinal section showing'the fore end-shoe engagedwith the barrel-lug of the barrel-unit, preparatory to Y swinging its forward end int-o engagement with the under side of the barrel-unit;

Fig. 6 is a top or plan view-Of the fore. end stripped of all its attached parts; y

Fig; Z is a view thereof partly 'nsidee'l'eva'tion and partly in central longitudinalsection; and j A Fig. 8 is ay detached perspective vview of the plate-like fastening-nut.

For the illustration' of, my;` invention, I have Chosen the barrel-unit of'V a double-barrel shotgun consisting, as shown, of two substantially-paralle ll barrels 10 and 11A which may be secured together in any approved4 manner'such lfor instance as by brazing or soldering, and provided centrally with a longitudinal top-rib 12 and asimilar bottom- Depending centrally from the rear endlof the' barrel-unit above described is the usual s barrel-lug 14, formed in its forward, wall, closely adjacent the under sides of the barrels 1() and 11, 'with a transverse fore endretainingnotch 15, providing an4 upwardlyfacing retaining-shoulder 15a and adapted to receive theextrein'e rear end of a retain-V ing-lip 16, rearwardly projecting from a fore end-shoe 17, forming a usual feature of break-down fire-arms, and formed in its rear face with a transverse semi-circular notch 18 designed to tit the forward end of theV frame (not shown) of the fire-arm.

The retaining-lip 16 is bifurcated, as shown, by `cutting therein a vertical notch 19, designed for the clearance of certain ,features of the fgun mechanism with which my present' invention, is not concerned. The

fore vend-shoe 17, just above referred to, is formed with the usualinftegral forwardlyextending tang 20 which is set into alongitudinalfgroovel in the upper face of the fore end 22.

For the purpose of securing the fore endshoe 17 and the fore end 22 together so that the same are organized as a unit, I employ an upwardly-extending screw 23 having its head 24 seated in a cup-shaped escutcheon 25, counter-sunk'into the under face of the fore end. The said screw 23 extends upward through the fore end and has its threaded upper end screwed into a threaded bore 26 in the tang' 2O of the fore end-shoe, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

The forward end of the tang 2O is interloclred with the fore end 22 by means of a downwardly-extending screw 27 having its upper head-end 28 seated in the counterbored upper end of a vertical screw-passage 29, formed in the extreme forward end of the tang' 20. rEhe threaded lower end of the screw 27 is screwed into a threaded socket 30, formed in a plate-like nut 31 (Fig. 8) which is located in the forward end of an upwardly-opening chamber 32 in the said fore end, and beneath a pair of complementary ribs 33 and 34, respectively projecting into the chamber 32 laterally from the opposite side walls thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. '1 Y For the purpose of yieldingly retaining the fore end 22 together with its fore end-shoe 17 and the tang 2O thereof to the barrel-unit already described, I locate in the chamber 32 of the said fore end a pivotal yielding' retainer 35 substantially in the shape of a spiral and formed of spring-metal. The said retainer is pivotally secured at its rear end, by means of a transverse-pin 36, to the tang 20, which latter is formed with a recess 37 for the accommodation of the rear end of the said retainer.

The retainer 35 is formed in its rear end with a forwardly and downwardly-extending nose 38,'which is engaged by the rear end of a fiat sheet-metal spring 39 secured at its forward end to the under side of the tang 20 by means of a screw 40, and exerts a. constant effort to swing the retainer 35 so as to project its free end forwardly and upwardly through a vertical passage 41, formed in the tang 2O directly above the chamber 32 about midway the length thereof.

The passage 41 in the tang 20 receives the downwardly-projecting portion of what is commonly known as a fore end-lug 42, centrally depending from'the barrel-unit, forward of the barrel-lug 17 already described and formed with a rearwardly-facing notch 43 adapted to receive the forward 'end of the resilient retainer 35.

The features described in the three preceding paragraphs are usual to fire-arms of the types to which my invention relates and are set forth herein only for the purpose of making clear the function of the novel features.

As thus constructed, when it is desired to 5 apply the fore end 22 to the under face of the barrel-unit when the latter is separated from its frame, the rearwardly-projecting lip 16 of the fore end-shoe is inserted into the fore end-retaining notch 15, in which it fulcrums, and the forward end of the resilient retainer 35ispositionedinthe notch 43 of the fore endlug 42, as shown in Fig. 5. Now, when upward pressure is applied to the front portion of the fore end, the latter will fulcrum in the notch 15 with the effect of bowing the retainer 35 and rocking the same about its pivot-pin 36. The retainer 35 as thus placed under tension, exerts a marked rearward force upon the fore end as a unit, and frictionally engages the rearwardlyfacing front-wall of thepassage 41 in the tang 20, with the forwardlyfacing front-wall of the fore end-lug 42. The friction thus developed serves to 'yieldingly hold the upper face of the fore end in close engagement with the under face of the barrels 10 and 11, as shown in Fig'. 3, in the usual manner of removable fore ends.

The removal of the fore end-unit from the barrel-unit may be readily and conveniently elected by grasping' the front end of the said fore end-unit and swinging the same downward into the position shown in Fig. 5, after which a slight forward movement thereof will disengage the retaining-lip 16 from the notch 15 and permit its complete separation from the barrel-unit.

By providing the retaining-shoulder l5a in the barrel-unit and proportioning a part of the fore end-shoe so that it may be engaged therewith, I am enabled to stabilize the rear end of the fore end-unit so that it becomes unnecessary for the user to clasp the same and the barrel-unit in his hands in order to position and force them together. All that is required after the insertion of the lip 16 into the notch 15 is a firm pressure upon the front end of the fore end-unit, which will swing about the end of the said lip as a fulcrum, into close engagement with the under face of the barrel-unit.

I claim:

1. In a shoulder re-arm the combination with a barrel-unit provided ina plane below the median line of the barrel thereof, with an upwardly-facing fore end-retaining shoulder; of a removable fore end-unit applied to the under face of the said barrel-unit and provided at its rear end with a retaining-lip engaging and fulcruming upon the fore endretaining shoulder in the said barrel-unit; and means for holding the front end of the said fore end-unit to the said barrel-unit when the said units have been assembled together.

2. A shoulder-arm as defined in claim 1 and having the said retaining-lip located at the upper rear corner of the said fore endunit.

3. In a shoulder fire-arm the combination with the barrel-unit thereof; of Va lug dependlli] ing from the rear end of the said barrel-unit and formed with an upwardly-facing fore end-retaining shoulder; of a removable fore end-unit applied to the under face of the said barrel-unit and provided at its rear end with a retaining-lip engaging and fulcruming upon the fore end-retaining shoulder in the said lug; and means for holding the front end of the said fore end-unit to the said barrel-unit when the said units have been assembled together.

4L. In a shoulder fire-arm the combination with a barrel-unit provided in a plane vbelow the median line of the barrel thereof with a forwardly-facing fore end-retaining notch; of a removable fore end-unit applied to the under face of the said barrel-unit and provided at its rear end with a retaining-lip entering and fulcruming in the fore end-retaining notch of the said barrel-unit; and means for holding the front end of the said fore endunit to the said barrel-unit when the said units have been assembled together.

5. In a shoulder-arm the combination with ythe barrel-unit thereof; of a lug depending` from the rear end of the said barrel-unit and formed in its forward end with a forwardlyfacing fore end-retaining notch; of a removable fore end-unit applied to the under'face of the saidV barrel-unit and provided at its rear end with a retaining-lip entering and fulcruming in the fore end-retaining notch of the said lug; and yielding means for holding the front end of the said fore end-unit to the said barrel-unit when the said units have been assembled together.

6. In a shoulder firearm, the combination with the barrel-unit and the fore end thereof; the said fore end being formed in its upper face with a chamber extending but part way down therefrom; of a fore end-shoe secured to the said fore end and formed with a forwardly-extending tang overlying and forming the upper wall of the aforesaid chamber in the said fore endgafastening-screw extending downward through the said tang and into the chamber in the said foreend anutmounted upon the lower end of the said screw and located entirely within the chamber in the said fore end by which latter it is concealed; and an anchoring-rib laterally offsetting from a side-wall of the chamber in the said fore end and overlying the said nutto prevent the upward displacement thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification. Y

FRANK F. BURTON. 

